News

iTrip for 3G iPod delayed again

By Dennis Lloyd ● Thursday, August 28, 2003

Here is the response to my inquiry about my iTrip order status to Griffin customer service:

“There was a delay due to unexpected manufacturing issues. The new iTrip is slated to begin shipping by the end of September. The standard protocol for shipping iTrips will be to send out the oldest pre-orders first. The expediency to which we can get to your order will depend upon when the order was received and the availability of our inventory. We here at Griffin will work as hard as we can to get your orders to you. We value your interest and appreciate your patience.”

Comments

1

i wish this was an f.in joke. i ordered this to listen to music in the car for the summer…with friends,etc, but now i gotta hope for sometime before winter…great

Posted by JimmyQ in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 9:25 AM (CDT)

1

Jesus fucking Christ!! I wanted one to use this summer. Maybe it will be in our hands by Christmas.

Posted by Mr Strat in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 9:52 AM (CDT)

1

Hmm… Is it just me or is this a bit odd?

The first delay was supposedly *not* a technical issue, but a political one. I remember reading reports that the iTrips were ready to go, but Apple told them to hold.

One of these two reports is incorrect, then.

Posted by azdude_15gb in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:05 AM (CDT)

1

it wont be relaesed because it breaches uk regulations, so you can only get one from the US. also if you bring one back here, it could be conviscated.

Posted by james byles in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:23 AM (CDT)

1

This is pathetic.

I feel like starting a boycott and having everyone cancel their orders and move onto another product

f*ck griffin

f*ck the itrip, its not the only way to go….so griffin can suck it good.

Posted by UnR1 in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:32 AM (CDT)

1

I was going to hold out to try the iTrip but I think I am giving up now. I am going to cancel my order and look for a way to hardwire the ipod into the stereo of my car thru the line out of the belkin autopod.

Posted by digitaltrapper in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:40 AM (CDT)

1

The iTrip (1G) sucked anyway. In the SF bayarea that is.

Posted by Bob in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:43 AM (CDT)

1

I just bought the Belkin FM transmitter instead. Works great. I would suggest everyone who pre-ordered an iTrip cancel their orders to send Griffin a message.

Posted by msherman in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:57 AM (CDT)

1

how does one go about cancelling an order? Is there a place on the web or do you call them? About had. Don’t really mind the wait if only Griffin would be honest and informative about the delay. How about posting in their web site? How about an email to preorder people?

Posted by Randy Debler in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 11:32 AM (CDT)

1

this is what you get when a company up and decides to radically change the design of their product. smaller companies struggle to keep up with the new demand. god forbid apple keep the same design on top of the iPod to accomodate the older accessories. thats whats keeping me from buying a newer ipod. all my old accessories such as the itrip and car charger will not work. gotta spend 400 bucks then you gotta spend another 100 or so to pamper it. no thanks.

Posted by Jaguares in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 11:56 AM (CDT)

1

All of these FM transmitters suck. Spend $20 and buy the tape adapter. If you don’t have a tape deck, then your stuck.

Posted by Loren in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 11:59 AM (CDT)

1

I bought the Belkin FM transmitter and it works great outside of the city. I don’t have a tape player, so I hard wired the iPod. It works great. Research the boards to find the appropriate adapter for your vehicle.

Posted by Chris in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 12:37 PM (CDT)

1

When I bought a new car this year I had a cd player with aux put in and for $45.00 I added a little pioneer dealy (forgive me.. can’t think of the technical name) that mounts under the dash out of sight ..you plug in rca jacks into and the other into the ipod. Works bueatiffully. Sounds as good as a cd with my stereo and sub. Not a cheap fix but sure is nice and convienient.

Posted by Del Griffith in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 12:55 PM (CDT)

1

A tape adapter? How lame can you get?

Posted by Mr Strat in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 2:04 PM (CDT)

1

I too was an early preorderer of the new iTrip. I think I placed my order about 8 hours after they were announced.

Last week I canceled my preorder. I decided to order a Cendyne Gruv-X from Buy.com, and 2 days later I was one happy camper.

Not to knock Griffin, who is an awesome company that makes cool hardware, but I strongly suggest anybody with their hearts set on a 3rd gen iTrip check out this accessory.

It is essentially a rebranded Audiax transmitter in silver and black, which means it has a digital tuner from 88.0 to 108.0, independent of the ipod (no stopping/starting tunes to change the station). It works with any device with a headphone/line out port. It works with the ipod remote control. It will work with the wireless remotes out there too :)

I have had WONDERFUL results with this little bugger. I live close enough to seattle to tune all of their stations, but I have no problem finding dead air, and I can easily override a weak station if need be. The digital tuning is awesome for those times when I need to tune to an analog radio. Set the radio to dead air first, then tune the Gruv-X in until it syncs. It tunes by .1 increments so you’ll be sure to get just right. Beats fiddling with an analog dial!

One other advantage that people often overlook.. If you want to dramatically increase the range of an FM transmitter, the easiest way to do this is to extend the antenna, ie the headphone cable, with a headphone extension cord. Not possible on the iTrip, but you can easily double or triple your broadcasting range just by sticking one of these on a normal FM transmitter. The cable on the Gruv-X is actually coiled so as to provide the longest antenna in the smallest space.

In summary, I’ve found the Cendyne Gruv-X to be well made, light and unobtrusive (not as nice as riding on the top of the ipod, but the thing can’t weigh more than an ounce without the single AAA battery). The digital tuning external to the ipod is a blessing, and I think I would have eventually gotten very annoyed with the inability to use a remote control with the iTrip.

1

fucking reminds me of iskin.com with their constant delays. at least griffin didn’t pull some fancy shit and charge me before shipping.

Posted by some dude in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 4:34 PM (CDT)

1

Hey guys…...........why don’t you tell us how you really feel?
Delays in any new product are a given!
Would you rather have it come out now and not work properly or have multiple problems?

Maybe…....just maybe….they are trying to get things right before delivery??

I’d rather have a great product in a month than a piece of crap now!
I appluad companies that make sure things are right rather than delivering a unit that the customer is a beta tester.

Patience!

Posted by Brian Fenner in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 6:48 PM (CDT)

1

Patience? How about some honesty!

Now true, delays in any new product are a given. However, they should never had said shipping soon to begin with.

It’s deceptive and it’s devious. The fact that the only way I’ve heard about these, too numerous to count, delays is through this site is despicable. Haven’t they heard of emailing those that preordered?

Now I probably won’t cancel my order (yet I might), but make no mistake: I am not happy, not in the least. And this is my first experience with Griffen.

Posted by iTrip is borderline iTired in Irvine, CA on August 28, 2003 at 10:46 PM (CDT)

1

I have sent an email to them asking them to cancel my order - let’s see if they do. I only ordered one so that I could play music in my hire car when I was on my hols in Canada. Now that has been and gone - it’s no use to me